Connor McDavid wasn’t exactly in the doghouse Sunday, but he was certainly close enough to smell the Puppy Chow.

The Oilers captain had a rare bad game in a crushing 4-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings and wound up seeing his ice time cut to just 5:09 in the second period and 4:25 in the third period for just 15:55 on the night, almost five minutes under his previous low this season.

He was also busted down to the third line between Drake Caggiula and Jussi Jokinen for a brief stretch in the second.

“I didn’t think they were having a really good night,” head coach Todd McLellan said of his sluggish first line. “When you ask about an individual specifically, I’ll turn it into a line. We’ve played 13 games and they’ve probably been our best line in 11 of those games and they carried the team. And some nights they’re going to have an off-night.”

This was one of those nights, and it came at a particularly costly time with the 4-8-1 Oilers hoping to put back-to-back wins together for the first time this season, against a very beatable Detroit team.

And it wasn’t just the offence that went stagnant for McLellan’s big guns. Midway through the second period, McDavid and Draisaitl both turned away from a scramble by the Oilers net and turned up ice, leading to Detroit’s second goal of the game.

All in all a bad night for the guys who had been carrying the offence this year.

“I didn’t think they were particularly as strong as they’ve been in the past,” continued McLellan. “I thought (Mark) Letestu’s line was perhaps our best, packed with gas and they got a little bit more ice time, especially after we gave that third one away.”

Seeing his ice time slashed is a new experience for McDavid, but he gets why it happened.

“The game was kind of out of reach,” he whispered. “Obviously, you don’t like it. It is not very fun to sit on the bench, but that’s what it is.”

Asked what needed to be better, McDavid said his own end of the ice.

“I need to be more responsible defensively, first and foremost.”

The Eggs in One Basket Line had its day but it really struggled Sunday — after 40 minutes McDavid, Draisaitl and Maroon had combined for just one shot on net — and with the team off to a miserable start it might be time to split them up.

That’s a decision McLellan will make on the road, but no matter which way he goes McDavid says it’s up to the guys on the ice to deliver.

They didn’t on Sunday and that was a big reason for the loss.

“We just weren’t good enough,” said McDavid. “We didn’t have a terrible start, but they got a lucky one and the second goal could have been avoided. We just couldn’t get ourselves back in the game from there.

“I don’t think there is any head-scratching. We just have to be better.

YAMO REACHES HIS LIMIT

That’s nine.

Now what?

Winger Kailer Yamamoto hit the magic number Sunday afternoon, and now it’s decision time for the Oilers.

The smart move is to send him back to Junior rather than burn the first year of his entry level contract, but with the club desperate for anyone who can halfway generate offence, the Oilers might be hard pressed to let him go.

Yamamoto had one of his better games since making the team out of camp, playing 13:30 and registering six shot attempts against the Red Wings. He was more noticeable than most guys out there.

“He played a better game tonight than the past three he participated in,” said McLellan. “He was one of our quicker forwards tonight.”

Yamamoto has three assists in his nine games, which doesn’t sound like much but it puts him ahead of nine other players.

They will likely make a decision on him before the club leaves town Monday for it’s eastern road trip.

“That will be something the management group will sit down and discuss,” said McLellan. “We’ll find out a little bit more in the next little while.”

LATE HITS

The Oilers were held to two or fewer goals for the ninth time in 13 games … They have been outscored 14-5 in the four games after they’ve posted a win … Sunday marked the fourth time this season that the Oilers have fallen behind 1-0 on the opposition’s first or second shot of the game and the sixth time in 13 games that they’ve been behind at the first intermission… Detroit’s Dylan Larkin had 10 shots on net.

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